Piano-shield.



M. J. BEAN.

PIANO SHIELD.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 26, 1909.

Patented Feb.

avwawkoz m UNITED PATENT OFFICE.

MICHAEL J. BEAN, OF WOODHA'VEN, NEVJ YORK.

PIANO- To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, MIoiIAnL J. BEAN, a citizen of the United States,and a resident of Voodhaven, Long Island, in the county of Queens andState of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inPiano-Shields, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improven'ients in piano shields, and is designedto protect that portion of the front panel surrounding the pedals,against'scratching or other injury.

One object of the invention is to render the shield adaptable to pianosof various sizes and styles, and another object is to make the devicefoldable into as compact form as possible, so that it may be folded intosmall compass while not in use.

In the accompanying drawings are illustrated several preferredembodiments of the invention, but various changes may be made thereinwithout departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

In the said drawings: Figure 1 is a front or face view of the shield asapplied to the piano. Fig. 2 is an edge view of the device. Fig. 8 is aplan view of the invention show ing the manner in which the shield maybe adapted to pianos having more widely spaced pedals. Fig. @i is adetail View showing a modified form of support for the shield, and Fig.5 is a similar View of another modification.

Similar reference characters refer to like parts throughout the severalviews.

The shield 1 is made of some stiff material, such as wood, cardboard orthe like, and either one or both faces of the shield is preferablycoated with some soft material, such as woolen or felt, so as to preventcontact of the shield from injuring the piano. Instead of covering theshield with a soft material, the shield itself may be made of materialhaving a soft surface, providing the body of the material possesses thenecessary stifiness. The shield or protector is preferably maderectangular in shape, as shown, and it is provided along its lower edgewith a recessed or cutaway portion 3, to receive the shanks of thepedals a of the piano. Dependent fingers 5 are preferably provided tofill the space between the pedals, and the edges of the recessed portionare preferably formed by the flaps 6 which are severed from the bodyportion of the shield at the upper ends along the lines 7 and theseflaps are hinged Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed April 26, 1909.

SHIELD.

Patented Feb. 1, 1910.

Serial No. 492,299.

along the lines 8. These hinges have been indicated in dotted lines,because the protective covering to the shield usually serves as aflexible hinge or connection between the flap and the body of theshield. The pedals of certain makes and sizes of pianos are more widelyspaced than others, and these hinged flaps just described allow forthisvariance in the spacing of the pedals, as when the pedals are widerapart, the hinged flaps yield either outwardly or inwardly, shown. inFig. 3, to provide sufficient space for such pedals. lVhen the piano hasonly two pedals, of course only one dependent finger would be necessaryto enter between the pedals. The shield may be supported in a number ofways but it is preferably supported, as shown in the first threefigures, by means of supporting blocks or feet 9. These supports arepreferably wed e-shape, as shown in the side view, so as to enterbeneath the front edge of the piano and become locked in place. Thesefeet may or may not be covered, as desired, and if covered, the bottomsurface is preferably left plain so as to better engage the carpet orother fioor covering. The shield and its supports are preferablyconnected in such a manner that the parts may be folded up when not inuse, and for this purpose I prefer to connect the parts by means ofhinges 10. These hinges are located so as to allow the shield to foldback upon the supporting blocks, and the edge of the shield ispreferably extended downward past the pivot of the hinge, so that whenstanding upright, the lower extended end of the shield will enthe frontface of the supporting block, as shown in Figs. 2 and 3, which thenforms a stop.

Another form of connection between the feet or supporting blocks and theshield, is illustrated in Fig. 4. Here the blocks are slotted, as at 11,to receive the lower edge of connection between the two parts, and theparts may be disconnected and folded together when not in use.

Instead of making the feet or supporting blocks wedge-shape, the sameresult may be accomplished by providing such feet each with a spring 12,inclined upwardly from the rear to the forward edge of the block. Thesesprings would engage the under sur face of the piano to frictionallyhold the feet in place.

the shield. This affords a simple means of I \Vhat is claimed, is:

1. The combination with a shield for protecting the front of a piano, ofmeans adapted to make locking engagement with the under surface of thepiano for supporting the shield in front of the piano, the connectionbetween the shield and supporting means being such as to permit theshield and supporting means to be folded with respect to each other.

2. In combination with a. protective shield for a piano front, having acentral cutaway portion to receive the piano pedals, supporting feet forthe shield having connection with the shield on opposite sides of thecutaway portion thereof, said connection permitting the shield to befolded with respect to the feet.

3. In combination with a protective shield for a piano front, having arecessed portion to receive the piano pedals, supporting means for theshield, and hinged connection between the shield and supporting means topermit the parts to be folded when not in use.

t. In combination, a piano shield having a recess adjustable as to sizeto receive difi'erently spaced piano pedals, and means for supportingthe shield with reference to the piano adapted to make frictionallocking contact with the under surface of the piano.

5. A protective shield for pianos having a recess to receive the pianopedals, the size of said recess being adjustable to accommodatedifi'erently spaced pedals, and means for supporting said shield.

6. In combination with a protective shield for pianos, having a recessto receive the piano pedals and a dependent finger or fingers to passbetween said pedals, and means for supporting the shield.

7. In combination, a protective shield for pianos, having a recess toreceive the piano pedals, flaps hinged to the edges of said recess, andmeans for supporting said shield.

8. In combination, a protective shield for pianos, having a recess toreceive the piano pedals, and hinged flaps forming the edges of saidrecess, dependent fingers to pass between the pedals, and means forsupporting said shield.

9. The combination with a protective shield for pianos, having a recessto receive the piano pedals, of wedge-shape supporting feet for saidshield, adapted to extend in under the front portion of the piano, andconnection between the shield and supporting feet.

Signed at New York city in the county of New York and State of New Yorkthis 24th day of April A. D. 1909.

MICHAEL J. BEAN.

IVitnesses MABLE SHAW, PHILIP S. MGLEAN.

